Nemo Cosmo Insulated Lite Review

So, once your tent is set up, what is going to keep you insulated and warm during the temperature drop at nighttime in the mountains?

*cue the Jeopardy theme music*

A sleeping bag? Thick, warm clothing? Those are important, but it's been my experience that keeping a nice chunk of insulation between you and the cold, hard ground is The best way to guarantee a warm night's rest. Everything else is also important, but without a sleeping pad of some kind, you probably aren't going to sleep soundly. Now, knowing this, you would think that I probably took a long time deciding on which sleeping pad I was going to go with. Dear reader, you are indeed correct.

I pored over the online resources, searching through all the reviews, reading forums, and in the end, I went with my gut. I chose the Nemo pad because I wanted to have the comfort of an air mattress - some of you just snorted your drink at that statement - with the additional insulation that design can provide. Now, if you've spent the night on the pool floatie style air mattresses before, it most likely wasn't that great. The long vertical construction of the baffles (the bladders that hold air) means that traditionally styled air mattresses tend to fold up around you as you lie on them. I never knew how much I loathed that until I bought the Nemo Cosmo Insulated Lite.

I got the 20R version, which means that it's 'regular' length, plenty for my 5'10" height to stretch out on comfortably. The baffles on the Nemo models are horizontal, which means they offer increased support and stay flat on the ground rather than curling upwards. The insulation was a must, because I knew I would be sleeping at altitude in lake basin areas where cold air would pool during the night. I tend to sleep cold anyway, so getting a sleeping pad like this gave me peace of mind that I would have a solid foundation on my way to a great night's sleep in the woods.

The mattress comes with a pack sack that collapses down to a size a little bigger than your two fists stacked on top of each other. The worst part about this mattress is having to blow it up at the end of the day, but it's not that bad. When you float comfortably above all the twigs and rocks that you were too tired to sweep out from under your tent, you'll realize it was totally worth huffing a puffing for a couple minutes.